A Flame in the Dark
by DestinyDevistation
Summary: There was something about the situation that brought something up in Sasuke. Something that had been long buried under the years of hate and striving. Something he hadn't felt since that night five years ago.  Lemon
1. Chapter 1

**A Flame In The Dark**

DestinyDevistation

I do not own Naruto!

He looked out of the darkness and watched. He'd stumbled across these men a few moments ago. What these men were doing was making him sick. Uchiha Sasuke may have been a killer, and he may have been the most notorious shinobi alive; but, an Uchiha would _never torture_ a woman. Sure, he had killed a few, that was part of his life, but he had the class to kill them as a shinobi. These insects had captured a woman, and had her tied to a tree. Some sort of sack had been thrown over her head, maybe to keep her quiet and to keep them unseen. There we're about six of them, every single one was an Akatsuki underling. The Uchiha looked down at his cloak, sometimes he was disgusted by the organization, more specifically the pathetic thugs at the bottom. Madara could have cared less just who he allowed to be his underling, and he never noticed how many of them Sasuke slaughtered. He heard the phrase 'leaf kunoichi' spoken from one of the men and was instantly pulled out of his thoughts. His dark eyes turned back to the scene. One of the men threw a few more logs onto a fire they had built, Sasuke took this chance to look at the captured Kunoichi. He barley heard the men mention something about a medic prodigy. The girl was wearing virtually nothing, what was left was ripped, torn, and blood covered. He couldn't think of anyone when looking at her injured form, but the nipping feeling that he _knew_ her just kept growing. Sasuke watched for a few more moments as the Kunoichi was beaten. What intrigued the raven haired boy was that the girl squirmed and tried to escape, but not a single scream, whimper, or cry came from her. The girl must have been a strong opponent, too bad. The girl collapsed, her body slumping to the ropes. Sasuke was about to turn away when the men pulled the bag from her head. Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke noticed pink locks tumble down. He froze, it couldn't be...It just couldn't be...

One of the thugs spoke, "Haruno, Sakura", He laughed, "She put up a harder fight than expected, but we got her."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, his sharingan blazing. He turned toward them, lost in blind fury. He killed the men quickly. The bastards deserved to die. The Uchiha broke the chakara infused ropes that held her to the tree. Her form fell onto his. He had no idea why he'd saved her, she was the enemy. But, he looked down at her, beaten and unconscious; he just couldn't leave her here, not like this. The raven haired boy let out a sigh, this girl always had a way of getting into trouble. He was usually the one to save her, but that was years ago. Why did she still have that same effect on him, after so many years. He pulled the Akatsuki cloak off his body, then covered hers. He contemplated on where to take her. He knew she needed a lot of medical attention. He had enough medical skills to stitch her up, but he had no clue what else was done to her. He closed his eyes in frustration, He'd have to take her back to his room at the hideout. He looked down at her, he frowned. Why couldn't he just leave? Why couldn't he just walk away? He tightened his grip on her and started on his way. He decided it would be best if no members of the Akatsuki, especially Madara, saw the Uchiha Sasuke waltz in carrying the unconscious body of his former teammate. His sharingan would create an excellent genjutsu. Casting one big enough to control every shinobi in the base would drain a large portion of his chakara. However, that was much easier for the Uchiha than coming up for an explanation for his...situation. He grimaced, why couldn't he just leave.

He reached the base in no time. Sakura was still unconscious, which was a good thing. She'd start asking questions, making noise, and possibly crying, which would make it much harder to keep the genjutsu up.

The Uchiha walked into the base, his cloak hanging over his shoulders and his typical expression on his face. The underlings were quick to move out of his way, as always. He made his way to his room, hoping he could avoid Madara. With the sharingan as well Madara could easily see through his illusion. Sasuke tried not to think about that, he needed to keep all his concentration on his jutsu. He took a deep breath. This was a strain on his eyes, just a few more minutes.

He finally made it to the door. Sasuke adjusted his hold on Sakura, then reached out for the handle. His fingers wrapped around the handle, and he began to slide the door open.

"Uchiha-Sama."

Sasuke froze, preparing to kill the underling behind him.

"What do you want?"

He could hear the man gulp.

"L-leader-Sama wishes to see you"

Sasuke was relieved, he couldn't see Sakura. His jutsu was still in effect.

"Later."

The underling was about to say something, but Sasuke had the door opened and slammed before he could build up the courage to stop stuttering.

The Uchiha lowered the kunoichi's body onto his futon. He lit a few candles, they were his only source of light since he had no windows. He pulled his cloak off her body, he had to see how badly injured she was, the cloth was wet with blood. His jaw clenched at the state she was in. Her face was bruised badly. His fingers slid across the black and blue patches of skin. Her mouth and nose were covered in dried blood, they must have busted them. Her body was covered in cuts, gashes, and bruises. It made him sick. He hadn't seen her hurt since, the forrest of death. He saved her then to. He shook the memory, he had to focus now. Her right arm was completely shattered, one of her larger bones was piercing through the skin. Sasuke bit the inside of his mouth. Where were Kakashi and Naruto, weren't they there to protect her. That dobe couldn't do anything could he? Sasuke ran his hand through his hair.

He went into the bathroom and wet some rags. He went back to her. He had to be careful about this, he didn't want to cause anymore damage. Sasuke kneeled down beside her. He began by wiping the dried blood from her face, then her neck and shoulders. When the rag was soaked with blood he switched. He tried not to focus on the fact that she was nearly naked, and the only thing separating his hands from her body was a thin wet piece of cloth. Was it wrong that _this_ was when he noticed she was beautiful. She'd grown and developed from the twelve-year-old girl he left behind five years ago. Sakura was a woman now. Sasuke shook the thoughts from his mind, he was an avenger. He couldn't get caught up in a woman, even if it was Sakura.

When her body was clean Sasuke rummaged through his bag for some bandages. He wrapped every single gash, no matter how awkward the location of it may be. Then, he did his best to line up the bone and wrap her arm so it could mend . When he was sure she was okay he left the room and locked the door. If he didn't go see Madara he knew he's come looking for him, and possibly discover the unconscious, half naked, leaf kunoichi in his bed. That would not be a good situation.

"What do you want, Madara"

The ancient Uchiha's eyes turned to meet Sasuke.

"Ah, Sasuke."

Madara paused, "I just wanted to see that you had safety returned."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Just what was he up to?

"Hn."

Sasuke turned to leave. He had to get back to Sakura, knowing her she'd try to escape the moment she awoke.

"Oh, and Sasuke, one more thing."

Sasuke froze. Did he know? What was he going to do? Had he already gotten to Sakura. Sasuke's mind was filled with possible outcomes and what to do in said outcomes. His body staid calm, this was Sasuke after all. He turned his head look at the other Uchiha.

"I need you to pick up some scrolls in the land of snow three days from now, you'll need to leave tomorrow, one of my underlings will be there to meet you, try not to kill him it's getting awfully hard to find willing recruits over and over."

Sasuke turned and made his way back to his room. Once the door was locked he let out a huge breathe. He looked over to the pink haired beauty that was in his bed. She was still unconscious, but she looked better than before. Her breathing was even now, maybe she wasn't in pain anymore. Sasuke made his way to the bed and sat on the edge. He rested his head in is hands. He had to come up with a plan to sneak her out of here, un harmed. Maybe when he left for the land of snow, he'd need to cut through a small part of the fire country anyway, he could just drop her off there. The only problem now was if she'd be able to make it there. She was pretty badly injured, and leaving tomorrow meant he might need to carry her. A small noise snapped him from his thoughts. His head shot from his hands and faced Sakura. She was waking up. He stood up and stepped into the shadows. He wasn't sure how she would react seeing him the second she woke up after being brutally attacked.

He watched her eyes flutter open. They were still the same bright green he remembered. She rose up, then noticed the Akatsuki cloak covering her body. She was confused, very confused. She pulled the cloak over her shoulders. She winced, and looked down at her body. Thats when she noticed her bandages. She made a few hand signs.

Sasuke was confused, he wasn't familiar with this Jutsu. Her hands glowed green and she started to go over her injuries; the first thing she healed was her arm. He didn't know Sakura was a medical ninja.

"Sakura."

Sakura froze, her jutsu stopped. Her head slowly turning toward the source of the voice.

Sasuke stepped into the low light of the candles.

"S-Sasuke-Kun?"

Sasuke's face was blank.

"how are your injuries?"

It took Sakura a moment to realize what he asked, then she realized something even more shocking than the fact that Sasuke Uchiha was worried about her, She realized that he was the one who saved her, and bandaged her. Her face turned red, he had to have seen her naked.

"they'll be fine."

She continued her healing.

The raven haired boy made his way to the bed, and took his place on the edge.

"i'll be heading toward the land of snow tomorrow, and i'm going through the fire village, you can go back home when we get there. She looked up at him. He'd grown so much. He had a long face, and the body of a man. He wasn't the same boy that left her all those years ago. But, he'd saved her and looked after her just like he did when they were a team in Konoha.

"Thanks."

"Hn"

Yeah, just like the old Sasuke.

He watched her heal herself, Which made her feel extremely awkward. His expression never changed.

"Where were the Dobe and Kakashi when you were captured?"

His voice broke the silence. She didn't look up from her healing.

"I was out on my own, they don't know where I am."

The Uchiha's eyebrows furrowed, what would she be doing out here on her own?

"Why?"

She looked up at him, her expression matched his, completely serious.

"I was coming to kill you, Sasuke-Kun."

This broke his mask, Sakura wouldn't try and kill him.

She continued.

"But I can't do it, not after you did this for me."

She pulled the cloak tighter over her body. His mask was back.

"theres still some good in you, if there wasn't...you'd have let them kill me, and you wouldn't have taken the time to patch me up." Tears built up in her eyes. But, she didn't cry, she couldn't cry anymore, she was a kunoichi.

There was something about the situation that brought something up in Sasuke. Something that had been long buried under the years of hate and striving. Something he hadn't felt since that night five years ago. They were just kids then, but now they were grown. Sasuke still didn't understand that feeling. But, he knew he couldn't fight it this time. There was just something about Sakura only wearing his cloak, her soft features in the candle light, and those big shining green eyes. Maybe he could let go, and let himself feel for just one night.

His face moved closer to hers, those emerald eyes peered up into his onyx ones. His eyebrows were pushed down, he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing.

They were just inches apart.

Ah, fuck it. Sasuke just let go, his eyes slammed shut and he let his lips crash down on hers. He lost control. Sakura's eyes were wide open. She couldn't believe Sasuke Uchiha was _kissing_ her. This was turning out to be a surprising day. Sakura closed her eyes, and let her lips melt with his. Her hands found their way to his raven locks, and his to her hips. The kiss soon turned into something more. The Akatsuki robe covering Sakura's skin slid off, only to be replaced by Sasuke's hands.

Sakura was hard at work pulling at Sasuke's shirt. The useless bandages were quickly removed.

Their minds were clouded with the adrenaline rushing through their bodies.

This was the first time either of them had done anything remotely like this. Sasuke spent his time training, and Sakura wouldn't have been interested in any other person. Sasuke's lips left hers and traveled to her neck. The whimpers and gasps he caused made him want to cause more. He pulled the the cloak away from them and cast it onto the floor. Sakura pushed her sandals off while Sasuke kicked off his pants and shoes. Sakura's face was blood red. Sasuke's rough hands were roaming her curves. Sakura's hands were pulling at his hair. Sasuke felt the blood rushing to his manhood. Sasuke's mouth traveled to Sakura's chest, she could feel herself getting ready for him.

Sasuke rose, and readied himself. He propped himself on one elbow and used his hand to guide himself . They felt each other as he entered her. Sakura's face scrunched in pain, she'd heard that it would hurt. Sasuke noticed and made sure to slide in as slowly and as easily as he could. He rested his forehead on hers, in an attempt to comfort her. He pressed his lips to hers and looked in her eyes.

"you okay?"

The way his voice sounded surprised him.

She looked into his eyes, she moved her head up and down. He nodded.

He started the motions slow and soft; allowing her to get used to him. It was hard for him to hold back with her nails digging into the skin of his back. He waited until her noises changed from pain to pleasure, then he started to go a little faster and harder. The time they spent together felt like forever, and as time went on Sasuke felt a tingling sensation build up in the pit of his stomach. Everything just kept feeling better and better. Sakura was moaning his name as quietly as she could manage too. She knew it wouldn't be good to be caught like this.

Eventually Sasuke felt all the stress in his body melt away and erupt from him. He pushed himself off of Sakura and onto the bed beside her. Their bodies were covered in sweat. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her and held her as tightly as he could. She did the same. Sasuke knew this was the last time he'd ever see her, and he had to let go soon.

"I still love you Sasuke-Kun."

He rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"I know, Sakura, Thank you."

He couldn't bring himself to say the words or even admit to himself that he had feelings for the kunoichi. She didn't expect him to say it, but, Sasuke would have never done what he did if he didn't. Her, Naruto, and Kakashi knew Sasuke better than anyone else in the world. She figured out that he was leaving all those years ago, and she knew what he was doing right now. She knew they'd have to say goodbye tomorrow, and she would never tell where he was, or what had happened here. She couldn't allow Naruto, or anyone else, to kill Sasuke after tonight.

She smiled, she had hope in him now, maybe he'd come back one day.

"Goodnight"

"Goodnight, Sakura."

Sakura fell asleep quickly, but Sasuke didn't. This was the first time in five years he'd felt anything other than anger and pain. He didn't want to forget this feeling the cherry blossom in his arms caused. He wanted to feel it as long as he could. Uchiha Sasuke didn't sleep that night. He dreaded the day ahead of him, he didn't want to let go.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Flame In The Dark**

_DestinyDevistation_

I do not own Naruto

Sakura awoke early that morning to an empty bed. The candles were still burning, but were almost to the end of the wick. She suspected that Sasuke went to et supplies, or something to eat. Considering they had a long journey ahead of them. The cloak from last night was gone, he probably was wearing it, or having it washed. Due to the lack of windows she had no clue what time it was, or where she even was. According to the information they required before Nartuo's battle with Pein two years ago, the Akatsuki were located somewhere in the land of rain. A country Sakura had never visited, so that still left her clueless. She decided to wait on Sasuke to return. She thought of last night, her heart hurt. She hated they had to part ways but, she had to go home. She was needed there. Besides, The Akatsuki leader would probably have killed her the minute he saw her anyway. Sasuke wouldn't allow it, but she had no clue if Sasuke was powerful enough to stop him. she'd seen him a few times before, him and Zetsu. That man gave her the creeps. She shuttered at the thought of him. She let her body fall back onto the futon, and she waited.

Sasuke was in the laundry room, there were no workers here this early, and he knew there had to be clothes here somewhere that would fit Sakura. He'd found some clean chest bindings, a shirt and some underwear. Now he was searching for some pants or something to cover her legs. Why did Sakura have to be so small? He couldn't have her walk around naked, he was the only man that could ever see her like that. But, he'd never see her again. Finally, he found some damned pants. He hid them under his arm inside his cloak. He didn't want to think of what kind of rumors would spread, and how many people he'd need to kill, if anyone saw him carrying women's clothing around.

The next stop was the kitchen, He had to find enough food to feed Sakura and to last him the rest of the mission. This was the easy part. He usually just took whatever he liked from the kitchen with no problems. He grabbed and empty potato sack and filled it with whatever he saw lying around, and lots of tomatoes. He always made sure to bring his favorite food. He saw a bag of sweets lying on the counter and decided to take them for Sakura, he knew she had a sweet tooth, even if he hated them. Once he believed he had enough he made his way back to the room. He didn't see Sakura when he opened the door.

"Sakura?"

He saw a head toped with pink hair peer out from the bathroom door, she must have hidden incase anyone decided to stop in. She stepped out, wrapped in his blankets. He threw her the clothes he had collected and she slid them on.

"i'm going to use my Genjutsu to sneak you out, don't make any noise"

He grabbed onto her hand, activated his sharingan and walked out the door.

Sakura made sure to keep her breathing low. She was in a building full of criminals, and the only thing protecting her was the man she loved's jutsu. She knew she had to do as he said. This was an extremely large area, and a powerful jutsu. She followed close behind him. Avoiding the bodies of men and women that didn't see her. Watching as they moved out of Sasuke's way like his skin would melt them. Was Sasuke-Kun really that dangerous? She'd seen him angry, and she'd seen him when he was fighting against Naruto and herself. But, she'd never been afraid of Sasuke, she'd never actually thought of him harming her. He could kill her if he wanted to. He could have done it that night she tried to stop him, he could have done when they found Orochimaru's hideout, he could have done it when she tried to kill him, and he could have done it last night, she knew that. But, there was always something holding Sasuke back, even if he didn't know it, after all he couldn't kill Naruto all those times as well. The more Sakura thought about it, the more it made sense. Sasuke still thought of his former teammates as precious to him. She noticed the way he was holding her hand, it wasn't by her wrist. His fingers were between hers. She savored the feeling of his hands, she wouldn't feel them until he'd decided to come home. She was certain he would, he just needed time.

The sunlight broke her chain of thought. She sighed in relief they'd made it through the base with no problems. Sasuke shushed her. She then realized there were still people around them.

Sasuke picked up the pace, keeping this jutsu up without getting any sleep was extremely difficult. Once they were a good distance away from the hideout he let the jutsu drop, and let go of Sakura's hand. He leaned up against a nearby tree, catching his breath. He opened his bag of food and pulled out a tomato, then threw the bag to Sakura. She immediately grabbed the bag of sweets then looked at Sasuke, she knew he hated them, so they must have been for her. She stuffed them into her pants pocket, she'd snack on them along the walk. She looked in the bag until she found a nice piece of fruit. That would make an excellent breakfast. She threw the bag back to Sasuke. When they both were finished they stared on their way. The walk was quiet for a while. It was awkward, leaving each other after a night like that, knowing these were the last moments they had together. They walked in silence, until Sasuke grabbed her hand and held it in his. He didn't want to let go, even if he could just hold on for a little while longer. Sakura stopped, then he did too.

"Sasuke-Kun..."

He didn't speak he just looked at her

"I don't want this to be..."

He knew what she wanted

"I don't want this to end"

"Neither do I"

There was something in his eyes she'd never seen before. There was sadness. She knew it hurt him just as much as it hurt her.

"Sasuke-Kun, you can come home"

"I can't, they'll kill me, Sakura"

"I won't allow them too"

"Sakura, I have committed crimes you can't even imagine. I have killed the innocent, directly attacked the leaf village, attempted assassinations on the kage, killed a leaf council member, and so much more. The people of the leaf won't allow me to live. I'd be sent to the executioner the moment I stepped foot in the land of fire."

"let me go with you"

"you can't"

"the leaf will find out your with me and either believe I kidnapped you, in that case the Dobe would think i'm entirely evil and lead the village on a quest to kill me and rescue you; or think that you've joined me, in that case you'd never be able to go home, and if they ever caught you they'd kill you; I can't put you in danger, Sakura."

"wouldn't I be in less danger if I was with you?"

He knew what she was trying to do. He sighed.

"No, Sakura, you wouldn't."

She frowned, she wouldn't be able to convince him, she knew he was right, about everything. She nodded, and they both continued to walk. Their hands still intertwined with each other.

They didn't talk much the rest of the journey. Sakura was sure she'd break down when she was the sigh that indicated they were in the land of fire.

He looked at her, memorizing every feature of her face. She did the same. The moment seemed to last forever. Then she wrapped her arms around him. His slowly made their way around her. She was crying into his chest. It hurt. Sasuke hated the hurt. He rested his cheek on the top of her head, and let her cry. Sakura deserved so much better. She deserved a man that would be with her everyday, she deserved someone that would never hurt her, like he had, she deserved someone that would marry her, and help her raise children. More than anything Sakura deserved someone better than him, someone he couldn't be. That future was taken away from him when he saw everything he loved die. Sasuke couldn't let her be near him, no matter how much it hurt them both. Because he couldn't stand to see someone he loved die again, and him not being able to save them. The dreams of having a son surpass him, a daughter to walk down the isle, and a wife to love him, were taken away before he could even understand how much they would mean to him. The fact that he couldn't be the man she deserved hurt him more than leaving. The fact that he knew they could have been if it weren't for the massacre made him hate it even more. He wanted to avenge his clan, so he killed his brother. He regretted that, now he regretted ever listening to Madara. Why did his revenge get in the way of everything he thought he'd have. He thought he could come back after he killed Itachi, he thought he could have been happy. But, his death only made things more complicated. The longer Sasuke stood there, holding the woman he loved the more it became clear to him. He'd been making the wrong choices from day one. What if he was still making them. Why had he listened to Madara back then? Why did he leave five years ago? Why did he ever think revenge was the answer? But still, it was the path Sasuke had taken, even if it was the wrong way, he couldn't turn back. The path back had been destroyed, a long time ago. No matter how much he wanted too Sasuke couldn't go with her, and she couldn't go with him. It didn't matter if they loved each other, not after all the things he'd done. She'd be safer in Konoha. He hoped she'd always love him, because he would always love her. He knew it was selfish, and he knew it was wrong. But, he didn't want her to love anyone except him. It had been that way from the beginning. It was all he knew, and he didn't want it to change. He pulled away from her. Wiped the tears from her face, then gave her one last kiss. One that was gentle and loving. He hoped she'd look past the fact that he was leaving again, and see that he loved her. Even if he couldn't say it.

"Sakura, thank you for everything."

She gasped

He turned and walked away.

Sakura watched as the man she loved disappeared without a word. She stood there for a while, then went home. It was going to get dark soon. She knew her friends and family were searching for her. She took her time walking to Konoha. She had to think of an explanation for her absence the past two days, and her change of clothes. She pulled the sweets from her pocket and began to eat them. She couldn't think on an empty stomach.


End file.
